Jan 08, 12 at 4:20amwildfire

Chapter One

Wildfire sat on a bench on the deck of one of the many sandships ffrom the legendary city of Loc Lac. He was out in the middle of a great desert. Having come from a village located deep within the volcanic region he wasn’t so accustomed with wide open spaces yet. He could see the horizon in all directions and the sun had never been so bright. He was the hunter in his village for many years, but recently work was becoming harder to find, and his best bet to find work was in the city. He wasn’t the only hunter on board the ship, or the most clueless. There was a huntress coming from someplace further south. She was also looking for work. Her name was Sua, and although they met they hadn’t talked much since. The only thing she said to him was,” You smell like ash...” and that was it. Wildfire was also worried that he might not be able to hunt for specific reasons though not that he was incapable or anything. He had his armor and all but one of his weapons stowed away in the ships cargo hold. His best and strongest, not to mention heaviest great sword, the siegelinde he kept with him. He won this sword from killing many Rathians, and because it’s not the easiest blade to obtain he kept it with him so no one could steal it. His armor was marked, so he didn’t have to worry about that much, and it was heavier altogether than the sword was. He was deep in thought about really finding out what to do when he reached the city because he had only so much zenny to spend. Then Sua walked up to him,” We’re about to reach the city, and since I don’t know very much about it I thought we’d have a better chance if stuck together for a while.” “That’s a good idea, let’s do that.” Wildfire said. “How badly is your hand hurt?” she asked. “Huh?” wildfire looked at his hand, and he remembered it was bandaged to hide The Mark, ” oh, it’s not too bad I cut it sharpening my sword.” she looked at him skeptically and then to his relief she let it slide. “Do you know what we need to do once we arrive?” She asked. “I have an idea...we have to register right? So, we just find someone and ask them where the registry counter is.” he explained. “I asked some of the guys from the crew, but they didn’t have clue as to where new hunters go.” she said. “New? I’m not new at hunting just to the city.” wildfire said,” I’m the best hunter from where I come from.” He didn’t mention the only hunter. “You’re not?!” she asked amazed,”Then where’s your armor?” “In the cargo hold,” he said,” It gets uncomfortable wearing it sometimes.” She looked him up and down, and he looked by no means weak or scrawny, but something seemed off about him. He seemed more tense than even some of the hunters she knew, like he was hiding something. There was a brief pause in the conversation. “What’s the biggest monster you’ve took down?” she asked suddenly. He thought for a second.”Well I did fight an Uragaan once,but he ran away before I could kill him. I never did find him. The biggest I’ve killed would have to be Rathalos and Rathian. Rathalos being the biggest.” “You’ve taken one of those things down?!” she asked incredulously,” I have beaten Rathian before, but never Rathalos. You’re lying aren’t you?” to be continued.... “Nope, come with me.” He took her down into the cargo hold and unpacked his rathalos helm. It was warm on the outside but nice and cool on the inside. She looked at him amazed. “And you beat him by yourself?” she asked. “Yeah, and not just one.” he said,” I don’t keep a monster list, and if I did I probably wouldn’t update it anyway.”

* * *

The next day Wildfire got up just at the crack of dawn and began to ready him self for the long and arduous day ahead of him. He found that Sua was already up and prepared before he ever left his room. She greeted him on the deck, and they watched the sun rise together. Living next to a volcano Wildfire was used to being warm at all times, but in the desert it was extremely cold at night and hot during the day. The warmth of the sun was a refreshing start. Sua had Jaggi armor on and a sword and shield that he didn’t recognize. She had short slightly green hair under her helm, and blue eyes. She was shorter than him by a few inches, and looked a lot stronger than most women. Wildfire on the other hand was of average height, and average looking build although he was much stronger than he looks. The sentry above the ship called out to the captain because he spotted Loc Lac on the horizon. One of the crewmen stopped and said, “We’ll be in the city in a hour or two if the winds allow it.” Then ran off to prepare the cargo for transport. Wildfire brought his stuff out onto the deck of the ship, and waited.

As they watched, the city of Loc Lac grew larger and larger until it covered much of their view. The city was massive with large sandstone walls that stuck out high above the sand-sea. It stood as the only solid surface for miles out in the vast desert, a beacon of life in this harsh terrian. It was, at one time, a large plateau, but for well over a hundred years humans have been hollowing out the center and left the walls intact. Both Wildfire and Sua had never seen a city like this before, and the best part was it was a city for hunters, and where the hunting guild is based. Even though the city seemed to be getting so close they could touch it, it was still many miles away. They were making good progress, and Wildfire saw floating ships and thought he was seeing things until one came by and hovered right above the boat. The pilot was talking with the spotter in the crow’s nest. Wildfire was so astounded by this flying contraption that he didn’t hear what was said. The captain came on the deck to see what was going on, and startled Wildfire when he yelled,” Fredric! What’s goin’ on?!” Fredric didn’t respond until the airship flew off,” It seems that there was an accident at the docks during the sandstorm a three days ago!,” he yelled,” A sandship crashed into it, and cause major damage to the port!” The captain was shocked by the news because during a sandstorm ships are required by law to anchor themselves until it passed. “So, did they delay us?” the captain yelled back. “I was told we should go around to the arena side!” he said. “Blast!” said the captain he then started mumbling to himself incoherently. “Is this detour going to take long?” asked Sua. “Don’t worry, missy, I won’t charge ye any extra fer this...” he took a deep breath, and walked away barking orders to turn right. The crewmen started running frantically trying to keep up with the captains orders, and readjust the direction of the sandship. Despite the obvious chaos on board the ship, they seemed to be getting things done quickly. Wildfire imagined he was watching an Altaroth nest where without the proper knowledge an onlooker might believe the Altaroth’s to be confused and in disarray, but on the contrary every single member had a job to do even in this situation.“You zone out a lot don’t you?” Sua asked suddenly snapping Wildfire to attention.She eye him curiously,”No, I just get relaxed easily.” he said.“I hope that doesn’t effect your hunting ability...” she said frankly, and sighed,” the more I get to know you the less you seem. If you follow.”“I’m actually quite the hunter, it’s just this trip it’s so boring.” he said. They spoke to each other for an hour longer than they would have thanks to the inconvenience at the main port. Wildfire was relieved that they were finally able to walk down the gang plank and onto the docks. If the city looked even more impressive up close.The walls were several yards thick and they were wider than the broad part of Wildfire’s house back home. Not only that they were severl hundred feet tall, so tall that they cast a large shadow over the city, so that some parts of the city needed lanterns lit during the day. It was an apparent planned city because the flow of people was moving in the direction of the center of the town, and into the market place. Near the arena Wildfire saw many hunters, and enthusiasts. He could hear the crowd over all the commotion from the street he walked. He and Sua both marveled at the buildings because they were cut right out of the surrounding rock, and some of the richer looking ones were built out of concrete, marble, or a combination thereof. Hunters made up the majority of people walking down the streets, and even some of the merchants were hunters. They were all dressed in armor, and Wildfire suddenly felt naked without his. He had his siegelinde slung over his shoulder, but without his armor he looked like he just won the weapon in a gambling match. The rest of his weapons and armor was being towed behind him on a rather large cart. They followed the flow of the crowd for the most part and ended up in the largest market they’d ever seen. Wagons pulled by Aptonoth were making there way deeper into the city. They carried all kinds of goods mostly produce, but there was one carrying a large,drugged Rathian. A group of impressive looking hunters followed closely behind. Wildfire stopped the group, but the wagon kept going this didn’t seem to bother the hunters though. The one dressed in Rathalos armor was the closest to them, but they were all dressed in high ranking armor. “What do you need?” The Rathalos wearer asked. He sounded a little annoyed.“We need to know where new hunters go to get licence.” Wildfire said. They looked at him like he was an idiot. “You wouldn’t last very long against anything without armor, but it you want to register with the guild then follow us. My name’s Tsuna by the way.” he turned and started and the other hunters walked with them. “My name’s Wildfire, and this is Sua,” he motioned to Sua,” I do have armor it’s just packed away at the moment.” he explained.“You should probably put that back on, the guild doesn’t like to see hunters without armor.” he said without looking back,” At least your girlfriend knows that.”Wildfire looked back at Sua, and she looked away,” Uh...she’s not...” he studdered. “Hahaha I know. I was just messing with you, so where are you from?” he said.“The volcanic region,” he said. Tsuna turned to look at him.“You’re that Wildfire?” he said Wildfire was dumbstruck,” I’ve heard about you when I hunted there once.” “I didn’t know I was talked about much,”he said.“You’d be surprised how much a hunter’s reputation spreads if he’s good.” he said. Then they made it to their destination,” Well this is the end of the tour if you follow that path it’ll lead you all the way to the guild center. Talk to one of the receptionists and tell them what you need, they should set you up. Cya!” they all walked off. Wildfire and Sua did exactly what Tsuna said, and followed the path until they came to an open air office since it didn’t rain all that often it was possible.One of the receptionists looked up and greeted them with a fake smile.”Hi!” she said with an obvious facade,” How may I help you?”“We both need a license to hunt here,” Sua said,” And we also need a map of the city if you have one for sale.” The receptionist looked extremely annoyed at the extra request, and Wildfire couldn’t see why because she had a map right under the desk.“That’ll be 300 zenny,” she held out her hand with a smug smile. Even though it was an obvious scam Sua handed he money over any way, and the receptionist began to make out the license. She prompted them for their names and marked on their map where the lower tier hunter housing was. Then she handed them each a whistle and explained that this was for their “PF” or Personal Felyne. Just then two felynes came from behind the desk, and situated themselves next to their new masters. “It’ll take a few days for your license to be processed and reviewed by the guild masters, so in the meantime you can still hunt but without the license your hunter rank won’t go up.” Then suddenly another woman came from the back and said,” We only have one more lower tier housing left, so these two will have to share or one of them will have to stay at a boarding house.” she looked at Wildfire and Sua, and they looked at each other. They planned to stay together until now, but the city was so big that it would be easy for them to get lost, so they decided to stick together for just a little bit longer, and they agreed to stay together.“Just don’t get any ideas, Wildfire...” Sua said as they were leaving for the lower tier housing.“Ideas?” he asked,” about what?” She just rolled her eyes, and kept silent and dropped it. It was almost sunset when they arrived to the shack. Wildfire was surprised to see that the receptionist had the audacity to even call this a house, and Sua was having second thoughts about staying with Wildfire in such a cramped space, but said nothing about it. There wasn’t a door, but instead there was a worn curtain that hung over the entrance. They soon found out some other problem. There was only one bed made of rotting straw.

Chapter 2

Wildfire woke up in a cold sweat breathing hard. The pain on his palm was growing with each passing second. He held his hand, and tentatively pealed back the bandages. The Mark wasn’t glowing yet to his relief, but it burned, and his hand began to shake like it was cold due to the pain, and he sat there and endured for an hour which then turned into 2 hours before the pain subsided. He heard Sua stir on the bed and quickly re-wrapped The Mark so she couldn’t see it should she wake up. With the pain gone he felt the results of sleeping on the ground in his back, the muscles were threatening to cramp up if he did anything too strenuous. He was wide awake now, and he could see the first few shafts of light of day through the window as the darkened sky turned blue over the eastern wall, so he decided to get up. He stretched out his back as best he could, and began to put his armor on. When he finished he went outside and saw a group of hunters sitting beside a fire. They were all talking and having fun, so he decided to join them. An older man was telling a story about a fierce monster Wildfire never heard before called the Royal Ludroth and how it was terrorizing fishing expeditions further south. It was only at the mention of fishing fleet that Wildfire realized they were talking about a aquatic monster. He walked over and they stopped talking to stare at him, “I wanted to hear more about the Royal Ludroth,” he said. The old man’s face lit up at the request, and began talking more with greater enthusiasm now that his audience had grown by one. He started talking about how the Royal Ludroth can swim at high speeds, and can spit wads of mucus that can make it harder to run and breathe. The way he made it sound Wildfire thought that the Royal Ludroth was a lot worse than it actually was. He never fought the beast and wanted to know more, but the subject changed when someone mentioned the arena. “Oh, yeah there supposed to be this tournament today,” one them said, “ I was thinking on entering because they’re offering a ton of cool prizes. One of which being a mounted Silver Rathalos head. The best part is that they’re letting anyone join, not just licensed hunters.” This intrigued Wildfire since he and Sua didn’t have anything to do for a few days, and passing time at the arena might be fun. “Are teams allowed?” asked Wildfire. “yeah, but only two man teams.” he said. It sounded fun, so he asked, “ Where does one sign up?” “The arena entrance,” he said. With that information in mind he decided to ask Sua if she wanted to do this, later. He stuck around and listened in on what the hunters were talking about because they mentioned some monsters that he never heard before like the Barioth a pseudo-wyvern in the northern region. He heard they were rare, but fierce monsters that guarded their territory to the death. Of course none of them here could attest to fighting one, and all they did was spit out what they had heard, and were probably misguided, but Wildfire listened anyway. It wasn’t long before Sua came out of the shack and over to find Wildfire, she was still rubbing away the sleep from her eyes when she made over to where he was. She yawned, “ Good morning Wildfire.” she said and yawned louder this time. She came in close to the fire because the morning air was still cold. “ When did you get up?” she asked. “A bit before dawn, back troubles you see,” he lied. “ I told you I would sleep on the ground, but you wouldn’t have it, so I don’t won’t hear it,” she said. Wildfire smiled even though being chivalrous was painful sometimes. The others was looking at them, and Wildfire knew that they must seem like a couple if not married. Sua was oblivious to this. “Well since we just moved in why don’t we check out the city for a bit after all the shops open up?” she asked. “ Yeah, we kinda need to stock up on stuff before we can begin hunting, like potions for one....” he said. “ We also need to conserve our money too, so we can’t go buying any new armor or weapons for a while...” she said. “ The arena is offering 40,000 zenny as a reward today for their tournament, it’s a lot higher than usual,” the guy said, “ of course the monsters are gonna be a lot tougher too...” his voice trailed off, “ maybe shouldn’t participate after all....” “ After we’re done buying all the supplies today do you want to sign up for it, Sua?” Wildfire asked. She looked at him,” I’ve never done that sort of thing before, and won’t it be distracting with all those people watching?” “Nah, it’ll be okay, when a monster is wanting to tear out your throat the audience is the last thing you worry about,” he said reassuringly. The sun ,as it was rising, just then peaked the eastern wall, and bright fresh morning light illuminated the entire city bringing warmth everywhere it touched. It suddenly grew very moist and warm as the dew from the night was evaporating, Wildfire’s Rathalos armor prevented heat from getting to him as much as other armor it even seemed to cool him down when was hot.Sua didn’t looked too convinced that it would be as ok as he said it would, but she agreed that they would at least go and check it out in person after they were done touring the city. Some of the hunters were already leaving for bed since they stayed up all night, and Sua went and put her armor on. Wildfire waited on her outside the shack. She stepped out in her jaggi armor, and said, “let’s go.”As they walked through the city streets they checked their map every so often to see where they were in relation to everything. The large population of hunters living in the city had an obvious impact on the street vendors. They sold everything that hunters could want, from potions to weapons. There were even crowds of regular people to see hunters trying out some of the newest weapons: the Switch Axe. Wildfire heard about the switch axe, and how it was a break through in weapon technology that rivaled the development of bowguns, and became an instant sensation on the weapon’s market. He and Sua stopped to see a hunter dressed in what Sua called Qururpeco(I can’t spell) armor. Wildfire saw him just as he discharged a massive amount of energy into the air resulting in an explosion of light and heat. The crowd gasped, and the hunter who used the weapon stumbled and fell at the sudden loss of energy. It was a truly devastating attack, and very draining. The smith who was showcasing said that it was perfectly normal for those who haven’t used this weapon before will feel suddenly drained of energy as it takes quite a bit to pull off that move and he commended the hunter before him for being able to produce such an explosion.He then turned his attention at finding a new participant to try it out. He scanned the crowd, and his eyes fell on Wildfire. “You there in the Rathalos armor,” he said, “ would you be interested in giving this crowd a show?” Wildfire felt nervous at first because everyone was looking at him. He accepted and walked up to the man. “ A great sword user should be able to produce a more powerful blast for you folks,” he said to the crowd. He turned to Wildfire, “ State your name for the people gathered here.”“My name’s Wildfire,” he said.“So, Wildfire, you hold the weapon like this.” he showed Wildfire the proper way to hold the weapon which was surprisingly light compared to it’s size,” There now, good. To switch to the axe mode you place your hand on the discharge panel an-,” he was cut off when the axe suddenly turned into the sword, “ Well, it looks like you already know how to channel your energy into the weapon, but be careful not to do it too quickly we don’t want the weapon to break, this is a trial run after all.” Then the newly formed sword began to glow and Wildfire felt his energy ebb slightly, “ Whoa there, not too fast now. I haven’t had a chance to explain this to everyone yet,” he said. Wildfire pulled back on his energy, and the sword dimmed slightly but not completely, “ That’s about all I can do...” Wildfire said he was having a hard time controlling it. The man began to explain the inner workings of “sword mode” like how it was lighter and faster than the “axe mode”, and all the while Wildfire had to focus more on keeping his energy held back. It became increasingly difficult over time because he wasn’t used to it. The smith went and explained that to perform the sword mode’s discharge attack all one has to do is channel some of their energy into the discharge panel which collect here. He then motion for Wildfire to start charging the “discharge attack” and Wildfire was glad to. He shot his energy into the sword and there was an immediate difference. The smith went pale when he saw how much energy was being pushed up the sword. A blinding ball of light shown from the tip where the energy was being massed; it grew brighter and larger. The smith started to back away when the blade began to shake violently, he shook himself to his senses and yelled, “ EVERYBODY! GET DOWN!” A deafening boom shook the street and a sonic wave shattered glass for a football field in every direction.The full force discharged itself right into the smith’s shop destroying everything in it’s path. It blew apart solid metal and wood became non-existent in an instant. Wildfire was pushed back a few inches, but kept on his feet due to the cleats on his boots. When the dust cleared the sword hissed real loud and switched back to the axe mode on it’s own despite the fact that Wildfire never removed his hand from the discharge plate. Bits and pieces of debris began to fall on the crowd who was still lying flat on the sandstone road. Large chunks of unrecognizable metal fell to the street. Wildfire, as was everyone else, was in shock, a rather large crowd began to gather around to see the damage. The shop was completely destroyed. The energy had traveled straight through leveling everything, it even carved a path through the sandstone foundation. Black smoke was drifting from the maw of the weapon. Wildfire gulped when the blacksmith came up to him, he knew the blacksmith was gonna be angry. The blacksmith put his hand on Wildfire’s shoulder and gripped hard, “ You destroyed my shop!” he yelled, “ and my career! You’re gonna-” he stopped when he heard some wealthy hunters talking.“Did that guy do that with that weapon?” One of them said.“Yeah, I saw him it was incredible,” one of the original crowd members said.“I want one, no two,” another said. The blacksmith turned to Wildfire, “If you can help me fix my shop I’ll think about not reporting this to the authorities...” he said so no one else could hear, “ but it’s gonna take a fortune to fix all this, all I really need is equipment and a forge, these people want the Switch axe after seeing what you did with it...” his voice trialed off. Wildfire felt the rest of his life would be dedicated to repairing this guy’s shop, but at least he didn’t have to go to jail. Sua came up to him wide eyed and full of shock. She was covered in a fine dust that was all that was left of the wooden structure.“What....how did you?” she couldn’t find the words. It was about that time the city guards made an appearance. They were dressed in fine metal armor with a gold trim around the edges. They went right up to the shop owner, and to Wildfire’s amazement the shop keeper took up for him by saying it was a demonstration gone wrong, and that the weapon must have malfunctioned. The guards clearly didn’t buy it, but so long as no one was wanting compensation for damages they didn’t care. They then turned their attention to the crowd and had them all clear out of the way so city officials could come and clean up the mess.The shop keeper leaned in close to Wildfire, “ Don’t think for one second you don’t owe me,” he whispered, “ the only reason I took up for you is for two reasons: One, if they locked you away I would never be compensated, and two, from now on you only buy weapons and armor from me.” When the crowd cleared away the guards came back and organized and cleanup crew that would be out in a few days. The smith took the weapon from Wildfire to examine it. Black smoke still poured from the mouth of the weapon. He flipped a few levers and the mouth opened up when it did more smoke spilled out. He waved his hand in the air to clear the smoke from his face and looked inside. “ I don’t see how you’re still alive after that,” he said while still looking into the chamber, “ Every hunter I’ve seen try that out was barely able to manage a pop in comparison, but you blow down a building and yet you’re still standing?” He looked up at Wildfire who didn’t appear to be drained in the slightest, in fact he didn’t appear affected at all by the enormous amount of energy he fed into the weapon at all. “You must be made of something tougher than most hunters,” he stood up, “ because you not only destroyed my shop but also this weapon.”“What did I do to it,” Wildfire asked, confused.“Well for starters you overwhelmed tthe energy limiter and discharge trigger,” he said, “ when that happened it basically became overcharged and not only that the collection plates at the top burnt out,” he paused for a second and took a deep breath, “ It’s ruined now so I can’t sell it.” “I did all that?” Wildfire asked astonished, “ Is it hard to do?”“Hard to do?” he asked rhetorically, “ Of course it is! It was designed with normal hunters in mind who have trouble channeling their energy to some extent not for those who have trouble holding back their energy like you...” He eyed Wildfire’s sword, “ May I see that?” Wildfire handed it over and the Smith checked the pommel over, and felt the Rathian’s plate used to make it. “ This is high quality workmanship, and the charge plate is thicker. Interesting, now I know how to make your weapons,” he said with a smile.Wildfire looked at the rubble again, “ how much do you think it’s going to take fix all this?” he asked.“ I don’t know, but 30,000 zenny would at least get me back on my feet.” he looked at Wildfire and said, “I’m never letting you try another of my weapons again,” he said with a laugh, “ not within the city at least. Can’t imagine what you’d do with a stronger switch axe....guess that’s why you’re a great sword user.”Just then Sua said,” Wildfire! What about the tournament?” They both looked at her and Wildfire grinned.“If we win we’ll have enough to pay you back with interest!” Wildfire said, “of course I’d rather keep the interest...” “The way I see it you’ll be a hunter for a long time, and you can buy my weapons and armor that will pay me back ten fold. So, keep your money, and use it to buy my products!” The smith turned towards what was left of his shop and began to walk away, leaving Sua and Wildfire to their thoughts.They started on their way. Sua had less less than enough enthusiasm. They only looked at their surroundings to get the bearing, and they ignored vendors the whole way. Not much was spoken until the Arena came into sight. “Looks like we don’t have a choice but to win...” Sua said, depressed, “ Your first day in this city and you already owe a huge debt! How did that happen anyway?” Wildfire didn’t really know how it happened, the smith tried to explain it, but Wildfire’s not that technical.“ I don’t know,” he said earnestly, “ but there’s no reason to worry about why it happened but to fix it now that we have the chance.” Sua didn’t like his answer, but she couldn’t really argue with it either. The arena was drastically different today than from the day before, the city streets were empty in comparison. People were crowded in trying to register, or to get a seat. Either way one had to wait in line for a long time. There was three high capacity lines that served the registering hunters alone. The other four lines were bigger, and those were the people who wanted to watch the fights. Wildfire and Sua tentatively jumped in one of the lines the first chance they got. Sua, seeing all the people who turned up, didn’t not want to be here in her opinion hunting should be done out in the open not in front of people who judge her performance. Wildfire was of a different opinion altogether, he enjoyed the idea that people could see just how tough hunting really is. Waiting in line though they both agreed was a boring prospect, of regret and anticipation that ate away at them and grew stronger with each passing minute. It took a full hour before he and Sua made it to the desk. The woman who was sitting there was looking down and writing a few things on paper when she noticed Wildfire’s armor she looked up.“We weren’t expecting to have more than one decent hunter to show up,” she said with a smile, “Well, state your name, and your partners name should you have one.”“My name’s Wildfire and this is Sua,” he said moving to the side so the woman could see.The woman’s face grew serious, “ Please be aware that the arena does not offer medical coverage for any injuries that you may and probably will sustain during the fights, and that by participating you agree not to ask compensation for stolen armor, weapons, or zenny out of the storage room. Do you still wish to participate?” They shook their heads, ‘yes’. The woman sighed, and wrote their name down on a piece of paper and gave them a number. “When they call this number it’s your turn to fight, do you understand?”“I got it,” Wildfire said. She motioned for them to proceed beyond her, and they went without looking back. They walked down into a dark,damp, and smelly place. There they were stopped by some of the arena employees. They were told that they were not permitted to use their own weapons and armor in the arena, and that the arena will provide the all the equipment that they need including storage for the stuff they had with them. They were directed into a small square room that was barely lit. The weapons and armor that hung on the wall weren’t in the best of shape, and in all actuality most of the armor had dents in it. Sua chose the Sword and Shield set while Wildfire chose the Great sword set. The sets were made of low tier materials primarily mixed sets with some power to them, but overall terrible. “They expect us to win in these?” Sua asked after she donned her armor. “They feel like they’re a hundred years old....” her voice trialed off. Wildfire smiled, “Yeah, but doesn’t that make it more interesting? Sure we could win in our new and well kept equipment, but in these we really have to watch ourselves.”“Are you insane we could die out there!” She exclaimed, “have you gotten hit over the head too many times?”“We can die at any time,” Wildfire reasoned, “ Whether it’s in the arena or out of it monsters can still kill us.” Sua didn’t have a come back, but she still wasn’t happy. “ You can still back out if you want.” Wildfire said.“And what, leave you to get your stupid self killed? I don’t think so.” She said. Completely suited up, Wildfire and Sua left the armory with their stuff still inside locked chests. Armory guards stood at the front of the entrance to keep tabs on who enters and leaves. The dugout was just low enough for the hunters to look out onto the field through rectangular port-holes that was eye level to the hunters, but ground level in respect to the arena. The audience was still being packed into the arena, so Wildfire took the time he had to inspect his blade. He keenly and with obvious practice moved his fingers down the blade feeling the irregularities that made it dull. He then took out his whetstones that were supplied to him, and started to work. Carefully he slid the stone down the blade, meticulously grinding away the imperfections. So absorbed into the task at hand, he didn’t notice that the first match was starting.“you can try all you want, but you’ll never get an arena blade sharp,” came a rough voice from behind him,” besides, you’re missin’ the fight.” Wildfire turned around to see a older looking hunter stroll up. He carried a powerful build, and he wielded a giant hammer. Wildfire looked up to the field and saw two hunters fighting a large birdwyvern that was yellow and had an orange beak. It then swelled up it’s chest which turned red with the engorged blood, and bellowed another monster’s call, a sound that Wildfire remembered so clearly:the call of a Rath. On the other side of the field where the large iron bound doors were located, loud banging and yelling could be heard directly across the field where Wildfire was seated. The door burst open due to an explosion on the other side, and out stepped a large, healthy Rathian. She too let out a deafening roar when she saw the two hunters. The crowd, being behind a large metal dome that covered the top of the arena effectively preventing a flying monster from escaping, let out a cheer when they saw this. The Rathian reared back and shot a fireball which flew directly at one of the hunters, he rolled out of the way only to be met by the Birdwyvern which lit him on fire by clapping the ends of its wings together in a burst of flame. The other hunter started to run to his aide, but Rathian charged at him and cornered him. The two hunters were in a dire situation and they both knew it.“What is the birdwyvern called?” Wildfire asked the hunter without taking his eyes off the fight.“It’s called Qurupeco, and its a tricky one to fight. It can mimic the calls of many monsters and animals, so you don’t really know what you’ll end up fighting.” he said. Wildfire felt of the blade in his hands, and it wasn’t too sharp or too dull. With that in mind he turned his attention back to the fight. Rathian had pinned one of the hunters down, and his companion could do nothing to help him. He tried as best he could but the smaller birdwyvern kept him too busy, and he couldn’t get to his friend in time. Blood covered the Rathian’s face, and she crunched down onto the helpless hunter again; using her powerful jaw she was able to bend and tear the armor like tin foil. The hunter cried out in pain as he fumbled through his pouch by his waste. The Rathian bit down again but on his left arm crushing it through the armor, the hunters friend was faring better against the smaller opponent, and he delivered a final blow to the Qururpeco, to the the beak. The pinned hunter finally found what he was looking for in his pouch; he withdrew a brown hand bomb which he threw at the Rathian and struck her in the face. A putrid smell exploded from the bomb causing the Rathian to flinch and thus freed himself. He got up and ran away from the monster, putting as much distance between him and her as he could. He was bleeding from his abdomen, but not as bad as his left arm which bled profusely. Even though he’d stood in the same place for a short period a pool of blood appeared on the ground under his left arm. He staggered a bit threatening to fall over, but he stayed upright breathing hard as color left his face. Wildfire heard Felynes running behind him carrying a large wooden cart on wheels. The hunters crowding the dugout parted way while the Felynes hurried to the grounds entrance as fast as they could. They disappeared around a curve, but Wildfire could still hear them. The match ended when Qururpeco died, but Rathian still posed a major threat to the hunters, and anyone who tried to help them.It wasn’t long before the wounded hunter collapsed from loss of blood. His friend did all he could to keep the Rathian busy while the brave Felynes grabbed him up and carried him off. With his friend gone the hunter waited for the perfect chance to make a run for it. He threw a flash bomb in front of the Rathian’s face and ran. The sound of the Felynes coming back around the corner prompted Wildfire to look. He saw the damage wrought upon the hunter’s body, and shuddered because that could have just as easily been him. The man’s bones from his left arm was visible through the blood, and armor, but that’s all Wildfire was able to make because despite their size Felynes are incredibly fast. His friend ran right past Wildfire and Sua, and gave them a sideways glance without stopping trying to catch up to the Felynes. The next match was going to be another group of two versus a Great Jaggi, but since the Rathian was already out on the field the, and partly because Arena official don’t make enough money, they decided that the next match would be those hunter’s versus the Rathian. “My name’s Alex by the way,” said the older hunter, “ What’s yours?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.“My name’s Wildfire, and this is Sua,” he said, just now realizing that Sua had been quite the entire time. Sua greeted him by nodding her head towards him.“Do you see that hunter over there? Sitting next to the entrance?” Alex said, “ That’s Jaroda, He’s an elite hunter best one here if you can believe it.” Wildfire looked over and observed the hunter as did Sua. Jaroda was a smaller lithe looking man; he didn’t look very strong at all. He wielded a long sword that Wildfire didn’t recognize, and had on some of the thinnest armor too. Wildfire doubted him, but he seemed very confident and laid back. “ He belongs to one of those clans, though I don’t know which one it is.” Alex said when Widlfire and Sua turned back, “ He’s going to put on a show for alright.”Just then the crowd cheered extremely loud, drawing their attention back to the arena grounds. Rathian had been knocked over on her side writhing in pain. One of the hunters wielding a hammer, and bashed away at her skull with it. The other hunter was at work trying to disembowel her with his lance. That fight went quickly, and without incident. The next round was Jaroda versus a Barroth. Wildfire was curious to see this monster because it was one he never saw before it walked about the arena while Jaroda made his way casually to into the arena. He drew his weapon, when the Barroth saw him it lowered it’s head and charged. Jaroda made no attempt to dodge, but instead stayed in one place When the Barroth was right upon him, so close that Wildfire was sure it would hit, he spun to his right and brought the long sword down upon the Barroth’s left leg. It was a nice trick and flashy move no doubt, but the wound was shallow, and it didn’t seem to bother the monster at all. The monster turned and backed up lowered his head again and charged at Jaroda’s left. Jaroda simply jumped back and caught the monster on his right leg. Again it cause another shallow wound. Barroth reared back and tried to bite Jaroda, but he rolled under his head barely missing the attack. He got up and landed another attack and another. Soon his attacks began to become more and more frequent, as the monster became apparently more frustrated because it wasn’t able to land any of it’s own attacks. It started to look more like a dance than fighting because Jaroda would slide in and out of the barroth’s attacks while at the same time landing his own. Eventually every inch of the Barroth’s body became covered in shallow but long cuts that didn’t seem to amount to anything but causing minor discomfort to the monster. Then Wildfire noticed that the Long sword started to glow, and Jaroda started to attack more rapidly than he’d previously been until he unleashed a powerful horizontal attack that caused the sword to glow brighter than before. The horizontal attack didn’t seem to leave a trace which bewildered Wildfire, and then he saw everywhere the Barroth had been cut throughout the fight spurt more blood as if it had been hit again. Then Jaroda started to attack more aggressively performing those horizontal attacks more frequently. And every time he did the old wounds spew new blood as though they’d been hit again. “What that technique called?” Wildfire asked Alex.“It’s called the spirit blade technique because everywhere the sword cut the monster before is cut by the same force again and again.” he explained, “ It’s a hard technique to master mainly because it’s mentally as well as physically taxing, but it’s well worth the effort should one put in the time it takes to master it. The swords themselves don’t feed off the hunter’s energy like most, but the monster’s instead. Sapping away at the monster’s strength, and all the while strengthening the blade’s power until it glows a bright purple.” he said, “ Jaroda’s blade is one more spirit combo away from it, look.” He motioned towards the fight. Wildfire turned to see Jaroda completing another combo, the wounds across the Barroth’s body, which were at one time shallow, were now very deep and bleeding profusely. At the completion of the last attack the monster fell over due to the major loss of blood. It writhed for a moment, and then lay still without ever touching Jaroda even once. Jaroda sheathed his weapon without missing a beat, strolled back down into the dugout leaving the audience cheering louder than they did all day. Then it was Wildfire and Sua’s turn to go, and Wildfire could not have been more anxious than now. He and Sua were directed to the center of the arena, and there they waited while the clean-up crew gathered up the rest of the dead barroth. To Wildfire’s surprise they sent out another barroth, he thought that they didn’t have repeats. Then he looked closer at it trying to find weakness like a slight limp or an old cut. He found many all over the creatures body, and it was much bigger than the one Jaroda just fought. The barroth lifted it’s head and roared at the two hunters. Then the announcer began, “From the dusty plains, comes the hunter killer! that’s right folks many hunters has tried and fail to kill this beast, will these two be the ones to do it?” Sua looked over at wildfire,” I hate you, you know that?” she said. The barroth lowered it’s head and charged at them. They both rolled in opposite directions, and wildfire grasped the hilt of his sword while coming out of the roll. He looked up to see the beast turning towards Sua, She blocked it’s attack with her Shield, and swung at it’s face. Wildfire saw something in the corner of his eyes he turned to see a large object coming at him. It slammed into him and knocked him back. He slid to a stop, and saw that it was the tail that hit him. Sua managed to roll under the swipe, and was launching a flurry of attacks to the creature’s stomach. The skin was too tough for her to do any serious damage. Wildfire rushed over, and performed a draw slash on the creature’s leg cutting a long gash into the already scarred tissue. He quickly turned and blocked the Barroth’s tail, and without loosing moment spun and sliced again at the leg, but missed. He saw Sua running off, she was limping, and the barroth saw this too. He lowered his head and charged. Wildfire felt his heart skip and beat, he was too slow with his great sword, and was forced to watch as the barroth ran her over. She was thrown into the air like a rag doll, and landed in a heap, Wildfire held his breath and released it when she looked up at him. She was barely conscious and fading fast. He saw her reach into her pouch, and take out a potion.The barroth was now looking at Wildfire from across the arena, scraping the ground with it’s feet, and growling at him. “Bring it on!” Wildfire yelled. He raised his sword in the charge stance, and started shooting energy into the sword. Hot steam raised off of it, and it began to glow brighter, and brighter. The crowd watched him intently, and the barroth began his charge towards wildfire. Energy flared around his sword alerting everyone that he was in the level one stage, then the second, and then the Third stage flared up. Blue energy crackled a foot around the sword. It was so tightly compact and there was so much of it that the whole ground began to shake beneath wildfire. A whirlwind turned up blowing sand away from him, and then the barroth made it just before the charge left the blade Wildfire brought down the fiery sword on top of the barroth’s head.A violent explosion shook the arena as all the energy of the sword was discharged at once. A thick cloud of sand blocked all view of the aftermath. Sand rushed into the dugout, drenching intently watching hunters and knocking the closer ones down. When the cloud cleared Wildfire was nowhere to be seen. The body of the barroth lay still, and a sword was sticking out from the top of the creature’s head. A minute passed, and then a hand appeared from under the body of the barroth. Wildfire dragged himself out from under the barroth and stood up. His armor was unrecognizable, and he was bleeding all over. He walked up to the sword in the monsters head instinctively, he placed a hand on the hilt and with a swift yank dislodged it. The explosion tore apart the monster’s brain and crest at the same time. He turned and noticed the crowd was silent for the first time. He realised that they were waiting for him to do something, so he raised his sword in the air and gave a victory shout. The crowd went nuts.

Chapter 3

Wildfire hurried over to Sua, She was in much better shape now that the potion had begun to work it’s magic, but still wasn’t standing. He crouched down to her, and she looked away, “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.“What are you apologizing for? I’m the one who should be sorry,” he extended his hand to her, and she took it without looking at him. He helped her to her feet and supported more of her weight than she wanted him too. “Don’t sweat it, ok?” she looked at him finally her eyes sad for moment, but it vanished so quickly that it left him wondering whether he’d actually seen it. He wanted to talk to her more but the medical felynes made it to them, and were directing them down into the arena. The crowd behind were on their feet cheering and stomping in unison.The arena announcer came over his piping system, “ The crowd has definitely made it’s choice in who it wants to see win the tournament 5 matches early. That hunter with the great sword showed us a rare treat: the level three charge slash!.....” The announcer said more but in the dugout his voice was muffled and incomprehensible. As they walked through, Wildfire noticed a lot of hunters had left, and those that stayed were glaring at him. He never knew that the level three charge slash was such a big deal to everyone, but then again he’d hunted alone since he started. The village blacksmith was the only real weapons guy in the village, and was sort of a mentor to him because he was his late father’s friend. Here in the city it seemed hunters who can pull off such an attack aren’t that common. It would surprise wildfire a great deal if he found out he was the only one who do it.The dugout was filled with sand in some places from the arena, more so than usual. Wildfire was unaware just how powerful he really was, until he was able to compare himself to other hunters. Just as he was thinking this they made it to the medical wing where the other hunters who were injured earlier were taken. He entered with the felynes and Sua was given a room, and wildfire was directed to another. There he waited for a few minutes before a physician entered the room. “How’s Sua?” he asked.The doctor paused before saying anything, “ She’s fine the mega potion we gave her fixed her internal injuries, we brought one...for...you-” The doctor stopped talking and his brows furrowed. He got closer to Wildfire, and looked him over a bit more closer,” you don’t seem to be injured at all...” he said to himself more than to Wildfire. Wildfire looked himself over hurriedly, he remembered getting bruised and cut everywhere when the barroth fell on him. He gulped, his eyes wide, I’m changing he thought. It was happening faster than it was supposed too.He stood up, “ If I’m not injured then there’s no point in me wasting your time, right?” he said and hurried out leaving the doctor confused, and without time to call him back. He found Sua standing outside the room waiting for him, she glanced at him and then smiled. They walked together back into the dugout, and picked out their old spot next to Alex. The older hunter glanced up at Wildfire, with newfound respect. Wildfire sat down, and dusted himself off, even though his wounds had healed he was still aching all over. Sua sat in front of him leaned against the wall ,and stretched her legs out. She still looked pretty banged up from the hit, and dirty from all the sand in the arena. Wildfire didn’t look any better, unfortunately he looked worse because the barroth fell on him, getting mud and sand in all sorts of places. He looked down and his heart skipped a beat, the bandage on his left hand had been torn off. He opened his palm, and trying to keep it hidden. The mark was still there, and bigger than it was this morning. The skin there was inky black, and had a smooth shine to it. He closed his palm, and that’s when the pain started. His whole arm clenched, and he stifled a scream. Why in this place? he thought. He tried to conceal his pain, but he couldn’t. Alex knew something was up, and so did Sua. He held his hand as tightly as he could, until his knuckles turned white. He gritted his teeth together, and felt the heat rinse in his hand. The burning sensation was just as intense as when he got the mark in the first place. He closed his eyes, and wasn’t aware of anything all the sounds were jumbled together, the only real thing was the pain. And as quickly as it came, it left. He let his breath go, and looked for Alex but Sua was sitting in his place. She was starring at him, concern wrote on her face. He tried to smile, but it was weak and unconvincing. She motioned to look at his hand, but he turned away. “I just want to see it” she said and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Please?” she sounded worried, but overall Wildfire couldn’t let anyone see it. The risks involved were too great, and it’s something that he would have to handle alone in the end. The thought scared him, will I always be alone? he thought. Sua tugged on his shoulder, and he turned to face her. She looked at his palm, and motioned for him to let her see it. He refused to let her, and she turned and looked at the arena. Wildfire followed her gaze, and saw Alex fighting a monster alone. He was doing really good despite that, and Wildfire seeing him up there made him wonder just how long he was in pain. He watched Alex fight, and the old hunter really knew what he was doing. He was predicting the monster’s moves during the fight. The monster was another rathian and a smaller one at that he got hit a few times, but in the end he defeated the monster. He came back down into the dugout, and let out a tired sigh as he approached them.“It’s good to see that you are still with us Wildfire,” he said as he took a spot on the wall, “ You weren’t responding to anything that we said to you for a long time. Then it was my turn to go up and fight.” He was silent for a while as he caught his breath, “ what was wrong anyway?”Wildfire merely shook his head in response, and Alex raised an eyebrow. “Well if you don’t want anyone to know that’s your business, and I won’t bother you about it then. “ he stated flatly, “but here, use this to wrap it up again. If that’s what you want.” he handed up rag that was once part of his shirt. He chuckled as Wildfire began to wrap up his hand, “That rathian torn up my shirt, and I picked up that piece without thinking. I don’t have a use for it.” Wildfire waited with Sua for the duration of the next fights. He watched without much interest in them any more. The pain in his hand had taken all the enthusiasm had earlier, and most of his energy. They sat in silence and watched.

* * *

Wildfire gathered his rathalos helm and held it in the crook of his arm, and leaned against the wall near the entrance. He and Sua was waiting in the storage room for the guide felynes to return. They could hear the crowd above cheering and generally moving around even through the thick stone. The lantern hanging from the ceiling flickered and swung about like a free moving pendulum in small but noticeable circular motions. Wildfire inhaled deeply due to the boredom as the wait for the judges was taking forever. He heard from someone that Jaroda had left sometime before the judging began, so he was taken off as one of the choices. It gave Wildfire a bit more hope that he would win the money. Sua hadn’t said a word to him since his fit of pain, he knew she was mad at him, but he couldn’t help it. It was already late in the day, and Wildfire could feel it in his bones that he wasn’t so young any more either that or it was just the barroth that fell on him earlier. He was sore either way, and his joints ached.It was such a startle when the felyne finally came, in his years of hunting Wildfire was nearly always on edge. He didn’t hear them approach due to their size and padded feet, so when the flap suddenly opened he quickly drew his hunting knife before he realized his mistake. The felyne yelped when it saw the knife flash. Wildfire quickly apologized for his nerves, but it was apparent that the felyne no longer trusted him. He put away his knife, and didn’t say anything more.“Aside from the supurrrrize,” it glanced at Wildfire, “ it’s time for you to meet the judges in the arena.” the felyne said. It insisted that Wildfire lead the way, and kept to the back of them. It was late in the evening now, and the sun was just about to sink below the western wall when they appeared out into the arena. The crowd began to cheer again when Wildfire made his appearance. His siegelinde was fastened on his back and his rathalos armor cast a crimson gleam around him in the soft evening light. There were two other teams already in the arena standing near the judges. As Wildfire approached the crowd went silent, so they could hear the announcer. Wildfire and Sua stood in line with the other hunters, and waited.The announcer pulled out his cards and read aloud, “ These three hunters fought valiantly, and managed to pull off a seemingly inhuman feat, but I assure you folks these men are human just not ordinary.” he changed his cards quickly,” But only one of these fine hunters will be the victors today, so which will it be?” he paused momentarily to let the audience become inpatient. He pulled out his last card and yelled so everyone could hear,” It’s Wildfire and Sua!!!” he came up behind them and began to shake their hands with a big grin on his face, and a huge sack of money in the other. “Here’s the reward money on a job well done, and you can pick up that silver rathalos head on your way out.” He raised both their hands into the air, and the already loud crowd got even louder in their applause. He handed Sua the money, and said, “ You two might want to hurry out of here because you’re kinda famous now.” He looked at Wildfire,” People are starting to call you the ‘Third Degree Burn’. If you don’t leave soon the crowd will chase you.” That’s all he had to say before they left. Wildfire stopped only for a minute to pick up the mounted head, and was into the street headed back towards the blacksmith’s shop. Sua gave Wildfire the money, and told him that she’d wait for him back at the apartment. He gave her the rathalos head, and went alone. The sun had long vanished by the time he made it to the blacksmith’s shop, or what was left of it. The smith was still there eating something out of a bowl. He nearly choked on it when he saw Wildfire. “H-how’d it go? Did you win?” he asked. “People have been going on and on about some new hunter today as they walk by, but I wasn’t sure if it was you....” he looked in Wildfire’s hand and saw the sack. The look of relief came over him like the world was lifted off his shoulders. Wildfire tossed it to him, and he caught it gleefully.“You wouldn’t know what I went through to get that,” Wildfire said, “I had a barroth sit on me, and the judges decided to give it to me.” He chuckled and opened the sack.“It’s all here,” he said, “ now I have a business again, and a famous hunter will be shopping here.” he looked at Wildfire,” To think that if you hadn’t blown up my shop I wouldn’t have the best customer anyone could want.” Wildfire laughed, “Oh, where are my manners. Do you want some soup?” he picked up a spare bowl, and offered it to Wildfire.“I can’t Sua’s waiting for me back at the apartment, and it’s getting late,” Wildfire stated, “ Thanks for the offer though.” He started on his way back. He walked through the vacant streets in the cold night air. It was colder here than expected. He thought that deserts were hot all the time, but it gets so cold at night and scorching during the day. He walked through the once crowded streets, the lamp posts illuminated the cobblestone path in from of him. They casted long shadows in the alleyways between the buildings making it impossible for him to see into them, but he was very aware that anything there would be able to see him clearly. With that thought in mind he quickened his pace. As he rounded a corner, he heard a loud crash coming from within and alleyway, and then retreating footsteps across the rooftops. He realized that thieves and criminals might use the rooftops seeing as they were very close to each other to get around to the city at night unnoticed. As he approached the lower tier side of the city a flurry of sound exploded behind him. He instinctively rolled to the right, and out of the way. He saw a large pointed object skewer the place he was just standing. He quickly drew out his hunting knife to face his enemy. He was a young man wearing light alloy armor, and a solid metal lance was his weapon. He looked nervous but determined, and Wildfire wasn’t going to let him have his way. The young man raised his shield and approached with the point of his lance directed at Wildfire. Wildfire held his gaze in the dim light much like a cornered tigrex, waiting for a blink or falter in the mans step. A noise caused the boy to look away for a brief second and that’s all Wildfire needed to pounce. He lunged at the boy, but wasn’t enough. The young man used his shield and it’s weight to halt Wildfire’s advance. Wildfire only meant to get the tip of his spear far at a safe distance, and the only way to do that was to come closer to the man. The limitation of his lance meant he could not reach in close to himself. The young man charged forward with his shield but Wildfire jump onto it, and hung there. He pounded the young man in the face and stabbed. The boy reeled back to distance himself from Wildfire’s volleys. He lost his balance due to the weight of Wildfire and his shield.He dropped his spear as he fell. The Shield became his worst enemy; pinning him to the ground and at the complete mercy of Wildfire. Wildfire’s experience got the better of him. His eyes flashed cold and he raised his knife into the air for the kill. The young man’s eyes widened with fear, and he struggled against the weight on top of him to no avail. He looked at the knife flash in the air, and time seemed to slow, and nothing mattered to him anymore. He cursed his lot in life, and wished he could change a lot of things, but in this one minute everything that he’d struggled to achieve no longer mattered. Wildfire plunged his knife down, but someone caught his arm. He looked up angry at the person, and was ready to pounce on them too. He caught himself before he continued any further. The hunter that caught him was huge and imposing, he wore a mix of different armors and a powerful talisman gleamed from around his neck. Wildfire was tore his arm out of the hunters grip and took a step back. He looked away ashamed. He put his knife away and was scared because for a moment he’d lost himself and had no recollection of the thoughts that he had when he was about to kill the young man. It was like he didn’t exist anymore, and then he came back to reality. Never before had this happened to him, not even on the numerous hunting trips he had. “What happened?” the hunter before him asked. Wildfire looked up to the hunter, and saw that the young man had ran away.“I wasn’t going to kill him, just scare him a little...” Wildfire said, “He attacked me first, it was self defence.”“That’s not what it looked like to me,” the other hunter said, “My name’s Tarek by the way. I won’t say anything because it’s not my business too.” he started to walk pass Wildfire, “Hope you have the same fire in you when you hunt Mr. Third degree burn.” with that he continued on his way. Wildfire hurried home.

Chapter 4

“Hello?” Sua asked as she answered a knock on the entrance. In the doorway stood a well dressed man who looked a bit out of place in a town full of hunters. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She had just woken up, and still had her pajamas on. “Uh... yes, is Wildfire about?” he asked,” I’ve come with word from my master about setting up a meeting, yes?” he had a strange accent, and stood there like he was uncomfortable.“Wait here,” Sua said, and she disappeared back into the hut. She went over to where Wildfire slept, and began to wake him up. He was fairly easy to wake up, but he was still groggy from going to bed so late last night. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he answered the door as Sua had instructed him to do. The man was wearing a suit and was dabbing sweat from his forehead. Wildfire looked at the sun to try and determine the time by it, but was only able to guess here in the desert. It was already above the eastern wall, and rising.“You’re Wildfire, correct?” the man asked. Wildfire shook his head ‘yes’ and the man continued, “ I’m here representing the hunter clan, Seekers, for they have invested interest in you and my master, a high ranking member of the clan wants to talk to you about joining with them. Would you be interested in coming with me to meet him? That is if you’re not currently busy of course.” Wildfire thought for a moment.

Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)

Sep 30, 12 at 6:31am

Its_my_time24

Idea sharing is caring

Aha, yea, i'll be sure to read it, im excited to see what happens, you left the suspense pretty high..

Oh, wild & gecko, check out the pm thread we have, i wanna ask if this idea seems pretty cool, cause with Khold in my fanfic, i think it may be really awesome.

Sep 14, 12 at 6:59pm

Its_my_time24

Last time i talked to him, he said he was busy with finding a job. Plus, college/university sucks. So, I PERSONALLY think wildfire is inactive. Wouldnt expect an update/hunting run anytime soon

The forum is slowly dying..But when Kholdstare returns, i bet ya a buncha oldies will return.

Sep 14, 12 at 6:32pm

WooperOnALedge

Wild, wat happened? I been looking forward to reading more!!!!

Aug 29, 12 at 9:12am

Phlogiston

I'M POSTING ALL IN THE WRONG ORDER, rofl.

Thanks, Imt24.

Aug 29, 12 at 9:10am

Phlogiston

As for using my ideas...If they would complement your story or philosophy, fine. Be warned, though, that they're only my opinions (like yours are). If I find any widely-accepted theories about anything, I'll let you know.